Leeds Together for Peace Festival

Check out www.togetherforpeace.co.uk for more details but this is running in November. Its Council sponsered and my much missed former Green collegue Clare Nash played a role in developing it. Its ecclectic and artistic and with the treat of war with Iran looming well worth checking out if you are in the area.

Full Council

I abandoned my reviews of Full Council meetings in April. It seems they are the practical limits of political blogging. Its inevitable that in an 8 hour meeting you might find a decent opposition point or a duff one from your own side. However saying so on a blog can upset a lot of people. Somehow Hallowe'en seems an appropriate day to have a full council meeting as it was a "House of Horrors". The new time limits have reduced the length to a mere 6 hours. Despite this I only got to speak once with predictably some of the softer, more consensual motions being talked out.

Two of the votes were a bit closer than they usually are and we had an epic debate on the proposed Incinerator. I have not hidden my views on this topic but its worth falging up how far the debate has moved on in just two years. The City's recycling target has been increased from 40% to 51% with an "aspirational target" of 70% by 2020, the bid for PFI credits now has all the technological solutions on the table and the Council is being neutral having previously said Incineration was the only option. In addition no final decsion will be made till 2010 rather than us signing up now.

I have never had a philosophical objection to incineration per se. High recycling nordic countries use it to get rid of the 10% to 15% of waste that they can't get rid of. What was an enviromental betrayal in my view was the original target of 40% of the City's waste being recycled with the remaining 60% being burnt in a huge single site incinerator. We have moved a long way from that strategy and with some more campaigning and a bit of luck we can get a very high recycling scheme approved in 2010.

In the mean time of course while Incineration isn't ruled out Labour will accuse us of proposing something close to the original scheme at the selected short list of 4 east leeds sites. Thats opposition and it creates a huge presentational challange for the party.

The Liberal Democrat Leader Mark Harris made his last contribution from the front bench. there were lots nice speeches about him but I thought a lack of any real warmth. John major was right when he said it was a rough old trade.

The other theatrical point was the appearance of former Collegue Kabeer Hussain on the Labour benches. The whole thing showed politics at its worst. Its amazing the Psychological effect the debating chamber can have on people. I saw one Councillor hissing and spiting at him like some kind of animal.

I end with the point that I always make. Much as I would like to say these meetings are irrelavent they aren't. Powerful people are held to account and although at times I want to slit my wrists the City would be worse off without them.

Now all I have to do is see if this toned down review offends anyone.

The Group Meeting (revised)

One of the cardinal principles that I adopted for this on line diary was that I wouldn't edit posts. It would stand or fall by what I felt at the time. I have kept to this with one exception so why revise yesterdays post on a Group meeting. Well firstly for non Lib Dem readers I didn't explain what I ment by a group meeting. The purpose of the blog was to try and explain how certain systems work. Secondly I'm not sure I really did justice to the theme I was trying to tease out, the conflict between individuality and collectiveness in politics, a difficult theme for any one in community politics or a liberal.

The City's 22 Liberal Democrat Councillors form a Group. We pool our office allowances to provide research, secretarial and case work support. We take common positions on things and use our combined bargining power to achieve goals. The most obvious example would be our power sharing agreement with the Conservative Group by which we "run" the City.

My initial thoughts last night were about the launch of the Leeds Left Bank project at the former St Margarets Church on Cardigan Road. Not quite to my tastes but a listed building and art deco. Its been empty for years and a local coopertaive is going to reopen it and use it as an Arts and Community Centre with the odd bit of worship thrown in. I really wanted to go but didn't. It would have been a really good use of my time as a Councillor but one of the first things that you have to grapple with is the competing demans on your diary. Nothing appeals to my anarco - liberalism more than small community group, eshewing state funding taking something derelict and making it new, living and breathing again.

But to quote Jed Barlett " Decisions are taken by those that show up " and decisions were taken at last nights group meeting. As last nights post hinted at I was was rather dispairing about the meetings focus on small bits and pieces r ather than the bigger picture. However this is hypocracy on my part as all through the meeting I was craving the purity of "bits and pieces" in the form of wine and nibbles in a restored Church Building while critiquing the ambiguity of the big decisions.

You'd have to ask someone that went whether I effected the out comes of the meeting. But by having gone I get to complain about the result and St Margarets will be open an other day.

First Strike Capability

I warmly welcome Chris Huhnes intervention over Trident for three reasons and intend to come to his defence over the charge of oppertunism and trying to dictate party policy.

Firstly I agree with him. I'm not a Unilaterialist per se seeing the logic of keep a small number of war heads while many other countries do. However Trident is in my view a collosially expensive, unusable piece of Junk that owes more to post imperial fantasies of former glories than 21st Centuary needs. The current policy is a hopeless fudge which just brings the party into disrepute.

Secondly he is right to speak outr because this is what leadership elections are for. The current fudge only passed conference by 40 votes after an impassioned leadership intervention. If he were saying he intended to make conscription party policy then people may have a point about dictating policy. However saying we will re examine something that was passed so closely seems fine to me.

Thirdly he is right to say something intersting. I take back every word about the time table being to short. Mid December seems an eternity away if we only have two Candidates that agree with each other. If we must have another leadership election then Trident is as worthy a topic as any.

Harolds and Thornvilles Neighbourhood Improvement Plan

I am my own worst enemy at times. Neighbourhood Improvement Plans ( NIPS) are a sub Blairite piece of trash from the Department of Communities and Local Government. When our Area Mangement office drafted one up for my ward without consulting (a) any councillors (b) anyone that actually lived there I should have let them get on with it. These things make someone somewhere feel like they are doing something and it would have gathered dust on shelves where most Council strategies lay to rest.

However annoying as I can be I have insisted on a residents imput and after a lot self created hassle I can unveil a big community event on Saturday November 17th.

Firstly by " Harolds and Thornvilles " I mean the area bordered by Cardigan Rd , Royal Park Rd, Queens Rd and Alexandra Rd. Its about 780 houses mainly "Back to Back" Terraces. I'll blog about the main streetscene and anti crime initiatives nearer the time but the date for your diary is 10 am till 2pm at the Cardigan Centre, Cardigan Road, Leeds 6 on Saturday November 17th.

10 till 12 will be a Drop in for residents with local service providers. 12 noon till 2pm will be a "Question Time" type event with Councillors, Police and Senior Council Officers. Through the day we'll be consulting on a 10 point improvement plan for the area and we have a pot of £2000 to spend on a local project.

More details to follow but I hope a stab at real community politics rather than just another " eye catching initiative".

Not my Euro campaign

I have been observing the Yorkshire and Humber Euro Selection with bewildered amusement. On balance I don't regret my decsion not to run. Its clearly an inordinate amount of time and effort which I don't have although I'd like to think I might have spiced things up a bit and added to the gaiety of nations. The basic problem is the God forsaken electoral system that Jack Straw lumbered us with. If you are trying to appeal to 5000 to 6000 ( who over whelmingly don't care) who have never heard of you across a region the size of a small country there really is only one game in town. Name recognition.

Its been funny to watch varying candidates using desperate measures to get there name, innocently of course, in front of members or on internal party communications. I'm very unusual. I know a particular candidate well and have been doing a bit of campaigning for her. However in nearly every other case people vote for who they have heard of or on a locality basis.

Heaven forfend that the siting of the lucrative MEP's regional office has anything to do with it, or promises of where it might go if a certain person was selected against another.

The other odd thing is how little is at stake. With out wanting to prejudge the result the sitting MEP has name recognition light years ahead of most other candidates and she is standing for re selection. She also has admirably high quality mailings to party members which have been consistant throughout her term.

So is anything other than 2nd place on the list up for grabs? Is this a shadow selection to be the front runner when a vacancy finally arises?

Perhaps I shouldn't speculate but having a selection on a regional basis is absurd. We are lumbered with list PR so I can't think of an alternative. The only skill though that this selection is testing is how big a contacts book a person has and there skills at self promotion. Neither is necesserily the best criteria for an MEP.

Plug 3

Its Cider month ( yes, really) so can I briefly plug both www.camra.org.uk/cider and the real Cider event tommorrow (27th) at the Grove Inn in Holbeck, Leeds.

I won't attempt any link other than its another plug. Can I also draw your attention to www.headingleytoday.co.uk Its a little content light at the moment but the YEP neighbourhood site is well produced and has potential.

Hyde Park Community Shop

Its always tempting to assume you know everything about an area and refreshing when you discover that you are wrong. Ergo can I plug this excellent little charity shop which operates from the side of the Hyde Park Methodist Mission on Woodsley Road. It sells ( and needs) Babies and Childrens Clothes, other Clothes, Books and Household Goods. Its open Mon, Tues, Weds, Fri 1pm to 3.30pm and Sat 10am to 2pm

I popped my head round the door the other day and it was full of decent folk trying to do there bit for the locality. The funds raised go to the Methodist Missions detached youth project.

If you are in the area have a look.

Homophobia is Gay

Such is internal party communication that I wasn't invited to the Leeds launch of this Campaign ( Sniff, fights back a tear). Reading this weeks "Leeds Student" www.leedsstudent.org.uk Ed Davey seems to have done us proud at an event at Leeds University Union. The web link is www.standuptobullying.org

I have made my head hurt deciding whether the slogan is an edgy post modern triumph or an example of what they are complaining about in the first place. However if I can live with Poptastics " You've got to be Queer to get in here" then I really shouldn't grumble.

However the coverage and the excellent interview with Jamie Saddler has made me think. I hide behind the fact i'm never invited to anything studenty. I should be more proactive.

Its Christmas !

One obscure fact I'm sure you'll be greatful for me sharing with you is Leeds is the only Council in Britian that makes its own Christmas Lights. I will work an obscure link to this in later in the post. Its irrational but one of my proudest achievements during my time in Headingley is the Christmas Lights. I have blogged about the History before ( and it wasn't that interesting the first time round) so I will spare you the story. However I have just finalised the details of this years switch on events. As is now traditional people can gather at the War Memorial at 4pm on Tuesday 4th of December 2007. at 4.05pm we'll all go into St Michael's Parish Hall for a party for local elderly residents. When we first set the thing up local councillors were actually there making the egg snadwiches and baking the scones. Those days have gone and really all the credit goes to the excellent Leeds 6 project and student volunteers from Leeds Met University.

I had a meeting with Leisure Officers last week and we are getting a good quality display this year after some grumbling about last years. I was particularly excited though about an idea that came to me during the meeting. As we are more than half way through the life span of the current lights we should really start a gradual replacement programme. Because we make our own we have a unique oppertunity to involve residents in the design. Two of the existing display were designed by women at the then Homeless Shelter at St Michael's Lane. Before I leave office I'm going to try and get the money together for 5 new replacement lights and see if we can work with a marginalised group to get a few more unique designs.

Area Committee

If I ever do an honest evenings work as a Councillor then it is probably an Area Committee meeting and we had one last night. 12 Local Councillors for the Inner North West Area of the City meet, argue, scrutinise and spend a pot of cash we have for local good works.

We always meet somewhere in the community though last night due to "technical problems" we met in a civic hall committee room. This made it a bit more formal but much better flowing meeting. As the microphone system only lets one person speak at a time we had to be better behaved than usual. First for the good bits. I was sponsering three funding bids which all got through. Some one else might have had the idea and its not my money so claiming credit seems a little unfair but as I have observed before politics is a creative art. These things only make it onto the agenda if someone draws up the proposal, argues with the officers and makes the case at the meeting. I was particularly pleased that we got

- £18000 for Older Active People to secure there Intergenerational Project Work

- £7800 for Anti Climb Paint for the Harolds /Thornvilles NIP

- £5000 for educational extras for looked after children in Inner North West.

The rest of the meeting does seem to be a bit of a talking shop but I don't think its a waste of time because councillors have to face the public. We passed a motion of No Confidence in local streetscene services, discussed the fall out from recent events regarding the Girls High School and a good discussion around Police charges for community events.

None of this will change the world but it does nudge our little bit of it in a better direction. the problem as always in the lack of follow up. half the meeting is spent wading through minutes and matters arising from uncompleted actions from the last meeting. Rarely in my experience the officers fault just the system not set up to respond to local demands. Still if back bench Councillors have any purpose then its meetings like this.

Royal Park Community Space Consultation

I will blog about the proposals for Royal park primary School seperately. In the meantime the Council has organised 3 public drop in sessions to discuss the proposed Community Space in the refurbished buildings.

- Weds 24/10/07 1630 to 1930 at Brudenell Primary School

- Sat 27/10/07 1100 to 1400 at Woodsley Road Community Centre

-Tues 30/10/07 1700 to 1930 at the Cardigan Centre

9000 houses are getting a mail shot about the issue. I think the survey is rather weak and officers have largely ignored my sugestions about how to improve it. Also they haven't offere4d a Freepost which is poor but at least there is space to write in some suggestions. Please have your say!

Draft Julia or come back Charlie?

Is this really going to be it? Another public execution of a Leader so we can have a contest between last times runner up and the guy that couldn't be bothered to stand last time? Is 6 weeks of two middle class white men parading the country basically agreeing with each other going to excite anyone?

I'm deeply diasappointed that virtually every other credible alternative candidate has ruled them selves out. I can feel a streak of bloody mindedness comming on over this election so my view is this.

If it really is going to be just Clegg vs Huhne then we urgently need to mobilise for a third candidate. Draft Julia Goldsworthy or make Charlie the Alex Salmond of the Liberal Democrats.

I'm aware that i'm open to the charge of making it a circus ( I think others have done that) but the only redeeming feature of this fiasco IMHO is the oppertunity to get some coverage and show case talent. I just can't see Clegg VS Huhne selling many tickets.

Like Buses

It seems Leadership elections are a bit like buses. Cllr Mark Harris Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group in Leeds has resigned effective 30/11/07. Under our power sharing agreement with the Conservatives this is the last day of his 6 month stint as Leader of Council. I wish him well in his retirement.

However we now have an enormous possiblity for growth and renewal. Over the comming fortnight I will be doing a series on "What are the Leeds Liberal Democrats for?" with a view to kick starting some real debate about a more liberal Leeds. I hope the leadership candidate's will find it food for thought.

Are we being rail roaded again?

There is that beautiful biblical phrase about the " sins of the fathers being visited upon the sons". The english translation doesn't really do justice to the Hebrew. Its more of a sence that the consequences of past mistakes flow through the generations and to some extent we are free of other past actions. Thus we commit fresh sins.

I can't help but wonder if we are in this territory now. Ming has clearly been forced out and already (a) people are spraying around endorsements for Nick Clegg (b) FE announce a very short in my view timetable for a leadership campaign. Like the troops it seems the new leader needs to be home for Christmas. I understand the need for closure but perhaps thats why we should keep shooting Leaders in the head and have elections after general elections like we always used to.

So kennedys departure was botched. So every one rallied round the establishment candidate last time who then turned out to be the wrong person. So we have another Leadership election in paniced and truncated circumstances which runs the risk of....

Perhaps we should just raffle the party leadership or have a rotating Presidency like the Yugoslavs? I dispair.

Cliff Edge

Is the party about to jump? Because frankly fellow liberals I fear that is what we will be doing if we publically immolate and remove another Leader less than two years after the last one. However before I explain why and what I think we should do next lets go back to Sedgefield and Ealing. Having visited one and seen a full portfolio of leaflets from another the silent question was obvious. Has there been an election campaign by the party in the last 20 years that has so obviously air brushed out the Party Leader? Indeed on some of the Ealing Stuff Charlie was much more prominent than Ming. As a Kennedy fan I mention as an aside that I hope Charlie has a framed copy of one of these in his study and toasts it now again with a wee dram. Put bluntly if our own campaigns team thinks the Party Leader has to be air brushed out of our camapign literature then why are the rest of us even debating the issue?

I will nail my colours to the mast. I'm happy for Ming to stay. He won the leadership fair and square and by a comfortable margin. I'm clear in my mind that 80% of the drop in opinion poll support we have seen would have happened under my chosen Leader, Simon Hughes. Much of the craving for a leadership election is displacement activity rather than facing the strategic threats we are anxious to leave unattended. If we agree that the political press can undermine leaders with speculation we'll be having an election every couple of years. Nor do I believe that we should kneel at the cult of youth.

However we can't go on as we are. Anonymous briefings feeding an external feeding frenzy. We have to plausible choices.

Firstly Ming can decide that he has had enough. He needs to do this in the next 7 days or so and we can have an long Leadership campaign with some thinking involved.

Secondly Ming can say he's staying with a statement of support from both Parliamentry Parties. Any anonymous briefers need to be named, shamed and fired. If we batten down the hatches and get agressive with pesky journalists they will loose interest in this non story.

What must not happen in my view is option three which appears to have already begun. The disaffected using 24 hour rolling news to feed a slow burning corrosive attack on the party Leader. They know full well that the membership will conclude not that it wants Ming to go but that he'll have to. The briefers will create a self fulfilling prophecy. Successful political parties do not treat leaders like an M and S party dress, something that is fully refundable if you don't like it once you get it home. If we are putting people up and saying "he/she should be PM" and 12 months later you kick them to death you damage your brand perhaps for a decade.

I'm not optomistic. I suspect poption 3 has already begun. My view is that those doing it are deluded soccerers apprentices who don't know what they are about to unleash. By monday we'll know if its option 1. If it is then to end on a cliche we must all hang together or most assuredly we'll hang seperately.

Community Centred

Will Leeds City Council transfer assets and power to the locally led and mutually owned Headingley Development Trust by giving them the former Headingley Primary School Building?

Its a long sentence but as locally its the question of the decade thats probabley allowed. Its certainly being dominating my time recently and today I chaired another working group meeting and yesterday went to a public meeting of Headingley Community Centre users, a service likley to be caught up in any particular deal. Given that negotiations are still on going I won't say much more than is in the public domain. The answer to the first question is "Perhaps" if we can plug the capital reciept gap. All redundant school buildings are being sold off and the reciepts ring fenced against new school building improvements. If we want to keep the primary school building we have to find its value from some where to compensate the capital programme. Can we? Well all I'll say at this stage is we have survived two seperate officer recommendations to pull the plug and are still talking.

Last nights meeting was an oppertunity to talk to Community Centre Users ( the one on North Lane). While it unsettles some collegues I think it demonstrated a key belief of mine. People can grapple with complex choices if you are 100% honest with them and they get the facts first rather than via the media or the rumour mill.

Inevitably I begin to look at this through the prism of legacy with less than 7 months left in office. As I'm neither able or willing to bomb Iran a mutually owned, democratically led community/arts/business starts up complex would be worth going the extra mile for. People aware of the geography will appreciate how easierly the play ground could quickly become the public square that Headingley doesn't have. Going a bit further though and speaking personally its about a liberal vision of power. The Landlord classes and the Council have heaps of assets in the area, save for the church buildings the community have none. The Council talks about empowering people which often means little else than Cod consultation excercises or handing out benefit payments and grants that keeps people/groups in a client relationship.

Handing over real common wealth frightens so many horses in the Council because it would give people real power ie the sort that can't easierly be taken back. If any thing is ever worth going the extra mile for then it is this.

Wood Lane

Yesterday I visited the Wood Lane Children's Home in Headingley. For obvious reasons not to many details of what went on but it is a pleasure to see a Institution in such transparently good nick. Its not uncommon for Childrens Homes to be scape goated for Anti Social Behaviour problems in there neighbourhoods. From time to time this issue flares up at Wood Lane. I'll nail my colours to the mast and say in Wood Lanes case its unpleasent nonsence. Central Headingley suffers very high volume crime rates and often people look for someone to blame.

Meeting the staff was useful and we had a discussion about funding for "extras" for the kids. A specific problem is lack of funding for the more expensive but very basic trips like a sea side holiday or a weekend abroad. Its the stuff childhood memories can be made off.

I've had a small proposal put on next weeks Inner North West Area Committee to set up some one off bursaries for this purpose and we'll see how the debate goes. Wood lane is such a beautiful street particularly towards the top with the junction with Woodhouse Ridge. Its home to such Headingley Institutions as Wheatfields Hospice and the Shire Oak Primary. You could go so far as to say it embodies "Old" Headingley and the Childrens home is definately part of that no matter what a few nutters say.

Another One Bites the Dust

The Liberal Democrat Group on Leeds City Council has lost another member, the second or third in the last 18 months depending on how you count it. ( Some one has had the whip withdrawn pending a court hearing)

My Colleague Cllr Kabeer Hussain (Hyde Park and Woodhouse) has defected to the Labour Group. I'm going to avoid the temptation to "Dis" Kabeer as I like him on a personal level but the following has to be said. He was happy enough with the party to stand for re election in may and win a four year term with Lib Dem votes and Lib Dem resources in a marginal seat fighting, erm, the Labour Party.

For obvious reasons I won't speculate publically what has gone on here but its all very sad and predictable. I'm sure Kabeer will be happier in the Labour Group and it will certainly spice up local politics. I suspect we are now up for a whole range of liberal /authoritarian battles on several local policy issues. All I would ask is that we treat each other with respect and not go after personalities.

God Alone Knows

This morning I hosted a "Kick Off" meeting at the Civic Hall for Headingley Churches Together. They are keen to engage a bit more with the Council and get involved in "Town Centre" issues. It's always refreshing to think for a while, just knuckle down with a pen, a flip chart and some problems. They are a lovely bunch of people and we covered loads of ground with a "To Do" list at the end which is gratifying. I always feel a little ambigious at the end of these type of things. The basic questions community groups always ask is " How does the Council work?". The answer to which is "God Alone Knows" but in the circumstances I avoid this cliche. I really don't after 7 years know how this place works. What always moves me about these sort of encounters is seeing decent, often intelligent people really struggling with why simple problems are made complicated by Councils or Government.

We discussed amongst other things the number of empty shops in Headingley, Vulnerable Adults, Coffee bar provision and issues around the night time economy. I suspect a strategic alliance between them and the new Development trust is the way forward. They are not the only people to dispair over the glut of empty shops in the area and the dearth of community provision. I must admit I had camped things up a bit, booking the rather grand East Room over looking Millennium Square and laying on some catering. I really enjoyed it over all and perhaps there are worse ways to spend my final months on Council than with a pen and a flip chart and some problems. If God really is the only person that knows how the council works then perhaps I should talk to the clergy more often.